Yep, yep, my boyfriend is a workaholic. He’s addicted to his job—or just to “NOT doing nothing.” Especially to “NOT doing nothing.” I could call him a DO-NOTHING-AHOLIC. First of all, he works a lot—sometimes even too much. His job is like his second wife.
He talks about it constantly, even at night when he’s sleeping. He dreams about it! If he’s not working, it doesn’t make a difference, because he ALWAYS has to be on the go… except when it comes to chores around the house! If he has two minutes to himself to relax, he “crashes” on the couch and becomes a total zombie for a few moments. At that point, I—the superwoman of the house—circle around him… I dance as I put away the toys; I wipe down every surface that mini-me has touched with her dirty little hands, covered in cookies that her dear father gave her while sitting on the couch—because it was too much of a hassle to insist she sit at the table. What? He picks his battles… especially with a “terrible two”…
Anyway… Otherwise, he always finds something else to do. Like going to work in the garage on a bunch of things that are urgent, according to him. He finds plenty of things to do EXCEPT cleaning, doing the dishes, doing the laundry, folding the laundry—in short, everything that I, Wonder Mom, do 20 hours a day. According to him, anything “feminine” should be done by a woman. Like THE dishes, THE washer, THE dryer, THE bathroom, THE clothesline… the other day I reminded him that THE housework was a man’s job. It’s funny, but since then, I haven’t heard those lovely words again.
Despite his need to ALWAYS be on the go, he’s MY man, and I love him just the way he is. It’s not complicated: when he’s slumped on the couch too often or hanging around me doing NOTHING, we get on each other’s nerves.
I know that everything he does is for the sake of his little family, who are eagerly waiting for him at home. Every evening, when he walks through the door, two tiny, delicate arms welcome him with open arms. Mini-me is always happy to see her dad come home, no matter how long he’s been away. Wonder-mom, with her hair a mess and dark circles under her eyes, accepts the man she brought into her life, because without him, she’d be missing half of herself.
Photo credit: Martine Doucet, photographer